Rescue tools know as “Jaws of Life” type devices are specialized tools used by various rescue personnel such as police, firemen and paramedics generally for the purpose of extricating accident victims from vehicles whose exits have been rendered inoperative. These tools require spreading and closing forces for opening or ripping apart inoperable doors or for cutting through relatively thick metal layers. Pushing or pulling forces of 7,000 to 15,000 pounds at the tips are considered to be normal for the proper operation of such tools.
A rescue tool of the present type is shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,544,862 and 5,520,064 of Hickerson. In those patents, there can be seen a rescue tool that is battery powered and which is capable of high torque spreading and cutting motion of its jaws. While very useful and an improvement in its time, the rescue tool of those patents can be improved upon by reducing its weight to make the device easier to handle and by increasing its efficiency as to heat dissipation so as to lengthen the life of the motor.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a portable rescue tool that can carry out the functions of the rescue tools described in the aforementioned U.S. patents but which has increased efficiency, lower weight, is less expensive to manufacture and has improved heat dissipation.